Our story & timeline
Mike O’Connell, Inventor.
I’ve been involved in the construction industry for over 20 years, I started as a labourer working for a commercial builder. The main task was to help the tradies when they needed it and maintain a tidy site. After a short time, I noticed when I was sweeping up, I always came across stuck on debris that the broom wouldn’t remove. So, I would do my best by turning the broom head over and using the plastic edge to try and scrape it off but this never really worked well. It was then, I had the idea of integrating a scraper blade on the front face of a broom head, a scraper broom would make cleaning up quicker and easier. This idea for a new combination tool stayed an idea for many years. Also, during this time I noticed a decline in quality with most brooms in the market, brooms were becoming cheaper because the quality was not there.
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The quality in the bristles and handles seemed to be the main problem. Handles were either snapping in the middle or at the connection of the broom head. The company I was working for at the time, seemed to be buying brooms every couple of months. It was then I saw a gap in the market for a new innovative product, a quality scraper broom combination tool.
09/2011
First meeting with design engineers and concept design drawings were created. The idea in my mind, can now be seen in a 2D drawing.
Provisional Patent application was lodged for Hudsons Scraper Broom.
11/2012
Certificate of registration of Trade Mark “Hudsons scraper broom, it’s the broom with the edge”. The slogan came about after a meeting between the directors; on the drive back to the office, the conversation started about the integration of the blade and the broom edge and led to talking about the Scraper Broom having the edge over other brooms in the market. The slogan was created “it’s the broom with the edge”.
The design for the Scraper Broom head was now finalised and approved, the die (tooling mould) was made in China and was shipped to the factory in the Dongguan Precinct. The manufacturing process had started and our first samples were made.
2012-13
Prototype Scraper Broom heads, flocking and bristles, timber handles and packaging. Over this period of time, each prototype that was tested on commercial and residential construction sites across Perth metro area. We had honest feedback from all the samples we had out in real construction environments. We then were able to make the necessary changes to the die, to ensure, at the end of the production line, we had a quality product.
02/2014
Video clips, posters and web site was made for the product.
02/2014
First Pilot run of Hudsons Scraper Brooms were manufactured and sent straight to Amsterdam for the Inter clean Expo.
05/2014
The Rai Convention Centre: Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Inter clean Expo. This expo was used to gather data on consumer acceptance of the product and what countries to focus our Patent applications. We gained valuable knowledge of manufacturing and distribution of products on a national and global scale. A very proud moment for a grass roots Father and Son team, launching a new innovative product.
08/2015
First order of Hudsons Scraper Brooms from China, arrive in Perth, Western Australia.
When planning to place our second order with China, we needed a smaller order to maintain cash flow. This message was disregarded by the factory and negotiations were a tiresome battle, this resulted in no second order being placed in China and the search to find an Australian manufacturer.
01/2017
Certificate of Patent approval for Australia, New Zealand
We spent a little over a year searching for an Australian manufacturer that could work with our existing Chinese die. The Geelong Brush company in Victoria, Australia is where we sent all our intellectual property to start the process of manufacturing in Australia.
2018-20
Our Chinese die needed some alterations before it could be used. It was almost like starting again, finding steel manufactures, injection mould companies, packaging and sticker suppliers.
2019
Certificate of Patent approval for U.S.A
09/2020
Approved to use the Australian Made and Owned logo.
08/2021
Our first Australian made order was placed and manufacturing had begun.
03/2012
2012
2016
2017